Writing (excluding game projects)

Nan Goldin’s name carries prestige in the art world, commanding respect and a dedicated following that even brought down an eleven billion dollar family, the Sacklers. Known primarily for her photography, each photograph cinematically captures vulnerable real life moments. The 2022 documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed showcases her art while honoring her advocacy and eloquence. Her words, like her art, have a wise air of meaningful and emotional literacy. Arguing the strength of her family made in New York City, Goldin states, “People used to say we were marginalized. And we didn’t care. Normal people were marginalized to us” (Poitras 46:36). The irony of the word “marginalized” here encourages scrutiny of the label’s implications. The Ballad of Sexual Dependency was especially radical during the 1980s for its critique of a national culture that encourages dependency upon men. The piece has since become invaluable. Thanks to the visibility that work like hers has brought to problems within American culture, her radicalness can now be recognized as valor. This analysis examines Goldin’s articulate introduction to The Ballad of Sexual Dependency from the original 1986 book mock-up. On these two pages, the socially inflicted suffering and the escape from suburbia that Goldin underwent played pivotal roles in her creation of monumental avant-garde art (Poitras 1:03:15)." For context, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is a slideshow of photos taken by Goldin of intimate relationships, and she often even depicted her own. Unlike how relationships are typically depicted, her photographs hardly capture a romantic ideal; there is brutality, lack of passion, heartache, and lust which create an honest depiction of love and sex. There has been great resistance to her work. Male artists and gallerists would say, “This isn’t photography. No one photographs their own life” (Poitras 58:50). Goldin, being a female artist who does not hesitate to share her own sexual life, challenges the previous norm of minimalistic and politically conservative art. In the documentary, Goldin recalls messages she received after putting photos of her battered face in the ballad, “Women who’ve been battered have come to me and told me that they were able to talk about it because of those pictures” (Poitras 1:02:37). Her work spread vital representation, pleading for a system that supports the struggles of women and LGBTQ individuals. Nan Goldin was raised in the conservative suburbs, an environment she mentions in her ballad’s introduction. “Don’t let the neighbors know” is a phrase Goldin’s mother used to repeat all the time (Poitras 6:35). Appearances were everything in the middle class suburbs which were less exposed to progressive activism compared to the big cities. Title IX and the Equal Pay Act were enacted in the 1970s to support working women in big cities where industries were beginning to hire women. On the other hand, women in the suburbs were limited to stay at home roles. A good 1960s suburban woman would cook, clean, raise children, and maintain the contentedness of men in the house. A woman’s life revolved around the men in her life. “Because of the times, the early sixties, women who were angry and sexual were frightening, outside the range of acceptable behavior, beyond control,” states Goldin when explaining how her sister was viewed (Poitras 1:03:15). Leaving the domestic space to make out with boys and yelling back at her parents was already against the status quo. Then having a queer child in the Massachusetts suburbs, like Barbara, was something that her family could not let the neighbors know because of the criticism, segregation, and danger it could put them all in. Goldin writes, “I saw the role that her sexuality and its repression played in her destruction” (Poitras 1:03:15). The culture of middle class society repressed her sister’s sexuality. Similar to other types of addictions, sex is hard to resist because of what it has to offer its indulgents; Goldin describes the control sex had over her own emotions to help the reader empathize with how the suburbia’s restriction of Barbara’s sexuality could have led her to kill herself. It is important to clarify that when Goldin refers to sexual dependency, she is not only referring to a need for physical pleasure. Pointing out another important aspect of sex, she writes, “Pleasure becomes the motivation, but the real satisfaction is romantic. [...] [I]t’s about a certain kind of communication founded on trust and exposure and vulnerability that can’t be expressed any other way. You become dependent on the gratification. Sex becomes a microcosm of the relationship, the battleground, an exorcism” (Poitras 1:03:15). Sex is really about romance, especially in a committed relationship. It requires trusting someone to take care of fragile bare skin, physical self-image, and mutual pleasure. There is communication required and emotions are exposed alongside privates. Love can be amplified once sex makes two people feel safe in sharing what they normally keep private. This emotion is intoxicating. Goldin describes her own toxic relationship with Brian, “We were addicted to the amount of love the relationship supplied” (Poitras 1:03:15). And even after Brian’s destruction of her property and attempted destruction of her vision, which she relies upon for her work, Goldin is still able to mourn her sexual dependency to him: “Later I was able for the first time to remember my real desire for this man and I understood how intense that bond was. Despite all the destruction, I could still crave that love. I had to face the irreconcilable loss” (Poitras 1:03:15). Sexual impulse is equatable to a craving and to lose the satisfaction of sex is felt as a loss. A hyperbole is necessary in the word “heartbreak” to capture the pain felt by the loss of sex and romance. The suburb’s distancing of Barbara from her sexuality incurred similar unbearable pain. Lying down on the tracks is what Goldin phrases as Barbara’s “only way to get out” (Poitras 1:03:15). The end of Barbara’s life was the only way she could imagine receiving relief for her unfulfilled desire. Beginning to mirror her sister, Goldin needed an escape from the restrictions of suburban culture so running away was the only way to survive while safely protesting her experience through her art. Goldin earlier in the documentary mentions that she dated a woman, so like her sister, she has sexual impulses that violate 1960s suburban expectations. At fourteen, Nan Goldin runs away, a significant moment in her life which she describes in her introduction: “Leaving enabled me to transform, to recreate myself without losing myself” (Poitras 1:03:15). Retaining her sanity, her escape from the suburbs saves Goldin from repeating history. She is able to recreate her reality, under her own control, through her photography. Fading memories of her sister are only so strong when pitted against her family’s lies, so she photographs everything since her escape to always have a record of the truth. Goldin declares boldly in a stand-alone line, “I don’t want to be susceptible to anyone else’s version of my history” (Poitras 1:03:15). Luckily in the city, she finds a space to share her work. Instead of being rewritten by cultural expectations, she learns to present herself and her truth honestly until it can no longer be ignored. As Goldin’s work is a direct protest of a system that entitles heterosexual men, a lot of backlash of her work comes from the men in her life. Nan Goldin’s father tried to stop it from being published “‘cause he said that [Nan] was trying to prove that they killed [her] sister. That’s how he put it” (Poitras 1:03:02). Nowhere in the documentary or in her introduction does Nan directly accuse her family of killing her sister. It is true that her father played into a system that is responsible for Barbara’s death by not supporting her then silencing and sending her away, but Nan Goldin’s art is meant to be larger than just her own family story. Nan explains her goals in her introduction, “Exploring and understanding the permutations of this power [of sexuality] motivates my life and my work” (Poitras 1:03:02). Her work is a creative study on a larger societal issue: sexuality and its effects on gendered dependency. Her father’s interpretation of Nan’s actions as a direct attack on him is a self-centered one imagined by someone who is used to women of his family living lives directly influenced by him. Nan’s abusive ex-boyfriend Brian also tried to stop the ballad (Poitras 1:03:23). All the men in her life are unprepared by cultural norms to have consequences for their wrongdoings. Nan interprets all this male backlash as proof of how radical her work is (Poitras 1:03:29). It takes a radical to demand change and to be noticed asking for it. While not meant as a direct attack on the men in Nan’s life, her work does showcase the damage their actions had on women. Their inability to support the greater message of her work and to take responsibility for how they took advantage of positions of power indicates exactly how important it was for Nan to publish the truth. Others in her position could then identify if the same was happening to them. The corralling strength of her work can be understood in a cultural model through terms used by socialist Raymond Williams in his book Marxism and Literature. Her work has become “typification”, a word Raymond Williams uses to describe something representing something larger. She is one of the leading artists of the eighties in progressive battles against AIDs, gender inequality, and misrepresentation. The photography in The Ballad of Sexual Dependency marks a point in history when her work was radical and caused uproar for what it represented. For example, one of her photos depicts a number of hickies arranged in the shape of a heart (Poitras 58:38). It is a suggestive photo that changed what is appropriate to be a gallery work. It also represents many issues of its time. A hickey, like a bruise, is a representation of how in dependent relationships upon men, underneath the romantic surface, there is a branding and control complex going on. The photo helps people identify the toxicity in their relationships. This photograph is also what Williams calls a “mediation”, or a break from and protest of the socially accepted economic and legislative system. It is a surge of cultural expression that demanded and achieved a change that better supported everyone's needs. These changes have translated into greater visibility of her community and a support system today for children like her sister to reach out to. Growing up nearly fifty years after Nan Goldin in the suburbs, I have experienced direct results of her art’s cultural protest. It has taken some time for progressive movements to change the educational system. Even as I was starting in high school around seven years ago, I was marked down by teachers for using gender-neutral pronouns, like they/them, in my writing. A year later, I was bullied for giving a passionate presentation on intersexuality in my health class. Luckily in the past few years, the systematic support for young queers has become more evident in my life. There are a number of queer studies classes in my colleges, but there should be more in grade school. It should not require privilege to have a diverse education. In each medical examination room, I spot signs encouraging patients to talk to their doctor about their sexuality. Work like Goldin’s sets the tone for positive conversation surrounding sexuality even when such conversations are uncomfortable in the home. Years ago, Barbara’s psychiatrist sent her and Nan off to foster homes to “fix their impulses”, but nowadays the medical industry has been trained to eradicate guilt that could arise from conservative influences. Art, or cultural mediation, has triggered effective change; but as there always will be a need for improvement with the times, new art and radicals are needed. Nan Goldin is both an artist and a cultural revolutionary, bringing about change for others like her in her photographic manifesto The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. Her introduction to the piece gives insight into the repression she and her sister experienced growing up in the “banality and deadening grip of suburbia” (Poitras 7:37). She goes on to depict an escape from that place which gave her enough room to breathe back into herself and reflect. In her reflection, she discovers gender biases in relationships and questions the sanctuary of heterosexual love. She translates those emotions into radical artistic “mediation”, as termed by Raymond Williams, that has had a great influence on today’s culture and institutions. Artists can be powerful. Their work can perform studies as thought provoking as those performed in laboratories. They can create art that rallies the emotions of those needing greater support for themselves or their loved ones. Artists today are just as capable as Nan Goldin in demanding change and greater representation. Holly, a friend of mine, is someone capable of an artistic revolution. Their story is eerily similar to Nan Goldin’s. Raised under conservative parents in the suburbs, they were faced with death if it was not for their escape. In my home, they gathered the courage to find themselves and make statements with their art. At my community college, they actively rallied their class against a professor who was trying to turn her students’ art into NFTs. Nowadays, a piece of theirs captioned “Our Love is Real” circulates my brain with newfound empowerment as I settle into university life, another escape from the suburbs in which I can finally find self-acceptance for my own queer love. The work of artists, like Holly who follow in the footsteps of Goldin, will go on to quake society from a resting state, surfacing the necessary cultural shifts to suit the changing times.

Back then, Cari’s dull tone was drowned out by the commotion of the sea. “I’m home,” she’d mumble, slipping off her gray flats and battered apron. Her shoulder bag and keys would drop clumsily to the tile. From her scalp, greasy hair sagged, pulling her posture and features down with it. On some days, she’d look different than the last, but it was never something I hadn’t seen before. So after being woken by her call, I dozed off again without opening my eyes. Every day, she repeated greetings and orders behind the counter at Riley’s Coffee Stop, a temporary source of income until her paintings sold. I haven't seen those paintings in a while. Maybe they're tucked under old coats in our storage closet. And every day, I would carry a duffel bag into the sleepy morning and be rocked on my fishing boat till the rough evening waves forced me home to bed. On Sundays, while the other fishermen were at home with their wives and children, Cari and I somehow found ourselves on the shore. Three feet apart, without a word uttered between us, we watched the fiery beast rage one last time before relinquishing his post to the patient moon. I enjoyed being a witness to this hour of each day, no matter the season, when the Earth’s sky was blessed with autumn hues. Once the starry curtain closed upon one Sunday evening sky, our footsteps did not deliver us back to bed, as they normally would. Instead, a single set of footsteps traced the sand into the liquid darkness. Following in the footsteps of my own father, I whipped my arm forward, sending a bottle, containing my wish written on a piece of paper, flying into the horizon. Just as he did, I let my tears disappear into the millions making up the sea. And I prayed, like my father had for my mother years ago, that the universe would find me, a simple, lonely speck, and decide that I was worth committing the impossible. While waiting, the waves glided through me. The stars twinkled peacefully, undisturbed in the dormant sky. I shouted and screamed, until the sound dissolved in my own throat, hoping that my cry would echo against the moon and wake the daylight beast. With all its radiant power, surely, it could bring her back. I did not want to walk home alone that night. But even after I succumbed to a pathetic state, the night remained the night. Of course, the tide kept on with its push and pull. I was just a witness, a rock on the shore. I had no influence over and no way of understanding heavenly things. Having no other choice, my feet dragged me back home to sleep, wake, and fish, sleep, wake and fish. “Good morning, baby. I made you breakfast! I wasn’t sure if you wanted avocado toast or pancakes, so I just made both. That’s kind of a gross combination now that I think about it…,” said a voice that triggered the waking part of my routine. But, this was not part of my routine. This voice that brightly chattered on was connected to a woman with silky brown hair in a braided bun which lifted her coral blue eyes. “Cari? Is that you?” I said, rubbing my eyes to check if this perfect image was a facade. “Hopefully you aren’t expecting another woman to be at your bedside,” she laughed. “No no! Of course not. But…,” I exclaimed, breathing unevenly, “You died.” Cari broke out laughing again, clearly amused. “Oh no, you must still be stuck in your dream. Hopefully getting a little food in your stomach will help you think clearly again.” So, I accepted it. The months in the hospital, watching cancer melt her away, must have been a dream. It was a long, sick dream that for some reason I can’t get off my mind. Ever since that dream ended, Cari rushes back from Riley’s each day. Once she finds me, she leaps into my arms, nuzzling her head into my neck. Rather than going straight to bed after work, like we normally would, she’s taken the easel out of the attic and sets it up on the beach. “Cari, it isn’t Sunday. Why are you going out?” I asked the first time she did this. “Why does it have to be Sunday for us to witness miracles?” Cari answered with a smile. On this Thursday evening, we wait for the show to begin, like we always had on Sundays. The performance has improved though. Cari takes center stage, the fall hues cast a spotlight on her, and the scalding beast raging at the night is merely the chorus, narrating her story. She has worn limbs and stiff bones, but… she exhales with the breeze. Her toes escape from the blue depths, and she leaps, defying it all. Water pressure, the temperamental surf, and even the world’s pull cannot keep her. Humans disappear in the grand scheme of the cosmos; and still, her arms and legs spread wide to accept the sun’s awe, the sea reaches out in protest of her departure, and her grin turns up to greet the sky. Watching her dance awaken the landscape like a goddess conducting the sea, I think the universe was made for Cari. I thought I could save a spot for her next to me on the sand because there was a time when we’d sit here, two insignificant specks stuck to the dirt, watching miracles happen in the horizon. If I blink, I could miss the world changing altogether. The longer I watch, she seems to blend into the stars. If she dances for too long, will she find a new home beside the other heavenly bodies? Will I lose her to the horizon? I shut my eyes, refusing to live that terrible dream again. “Wasn’t it beautiful?” she says. Opening my eyes again, an angel offers me her hand. “Come on my love, let’s go home.”

Upon waking up, people have set things that they do. Either out of habit or to fulfill a plan, the number of hours people spend eating and preparing for the day, perhaps with coffee or a shower, add up to a significant chunk of their lives. But in history, these normal activities are forgotten. Instead, the parts of life with historical significance are birth dates, death dates, and documented achievements or mistakes, events that may not fairly sum up a person’s life. In Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven, the narrator moves back and forth between different characters at different points of life, slowly painting a picture of who these people are. The reader must untie the confusing contrast between history, other people’s perceptions, and the character’s own thoughts to truly understand Mandel’s characters, whose lives surround an apocalyptic pandemic. Station Eleven creates opportunities for the reader to reflect on how life functions and is defined. In a passage in Chapter 53, Mandel’s grammatical structure forms a metaphor about what makes up a life and how it ends; and, regular activities which are lost in future portrayals of Arthur remind the reader that people’s lives are not always remembered in the ways they should be. Mandel leads the reader into self-reflection to increase their value in life’s “small details” and awareness in how they will be remembered. Within Chapter 53, Mandel’s syntax makes the reader aware of how life is structured, in both the sentence’s contents and how it ends. “O[n Arthur’s last morning] on earth,” the narrator describes the actor’s day with a list of activities: “He closed the fridge door, made his last breakfast–scrambled eggs–and showered, dressed, combed his hair, left for the theater an hour early so he’d have time to linger with a newspaper over his second-to-last coffee at his favorite coffee place”” (Mandel Chapter 53). At the end of the list, there is a reflection: “all of the small details that comprise a morning, a life” (Mandel Chapter 53). Mandel’s descriptive phrase analyzing everything prior to it in the sentence encourages a re-read of this mundane list of activities. These “small details” may “comprise” Arthur’s morning, but mornings make up every day of people’s lives. “[A] life” by being placed right after “a morning,” separated by a comma, becomes an appositive synonymous with “a morning.” After making this connection, the reader is able to value the list of activities as significant parts that make up a life. At the end of her list, Mandel emits the word “and,” creating a sentence fragment. Without this word, the list is cut off improperly. This improper ending is true to life. People are unable to choose where to place their “and,” and they cannot pick where life gets to end. By imitating the end of life and what makes up a life using syntax, Mandel is able to encourage the reader to reflect on how this description of Arthur’s life parallels their own lives. By reframing the life of the famous actor Arthur, which in other parts of the novel is documented by the ruthless press, through a series of relatable activities, the reader is shown an example of how people’s lives can be unfairly represented by history. As seen in the previous quote on Chapter 53, Arthur spends his last morning alive eating scrambled eggs and visiting his favorite coffee shop before work. Here, the reader is given the chance to see Arthur’s life in minute detail, all the way down to how he prepares for his day. Rather than being an untouchable man living through the stage, with a comedic love life, Arthur is given humanity and relatability in this chapter. Previous to this chapter, the reader mainly knows Arthur’s life through tabloids, paparazzi shots, and his friends and wives. By the time of his death, the world has documented Arthur in a very negative light. For example, having recently arrived at the Severn City Airport, “Clark [finds] a discarded New York Times on a bench and [reads] Arthur’s obituary. Noted film and stage actor, dead at fifty-one. A life summed up in a series of failed marriages” (Mandel Chapter 42). All of the small details the reader witnesses on that morning are forgotten, and instead, his mistakes are documented and will be carried on in history. Finally discovering the humanity in Arthur, it is depressing to read about this man, who made mistakes in his life but is forced to be defined by them. In one sentence, Mandel is able to enlighten the reader with the small details that make up a life, how life cuts off, and how life is not always remembered fairly. The power Mandel holds in each sentence to point the reader away from the page and into their own mind is an impressive psychological feat. Her goal is an important one. In the electronic, industrialized world, people have become fixed in their own way of life, without many opportunities for self-examination and change. As Mandel’s character Dahlia puts it, we have become “sleepwalkers” (Mandel Chapter 26). Rather than using characters’ lives as a literary escape, Mandel’s readers can use the story to engage in a healthy reflection of their own lives and hopefully improve their way of living.

Ever since the first video game was released in 1971 in a few arcades, the audience for video games has expanded because accessibility to play has increased exponentially and now there is a title suited for everyone. About 20 years ago, having a Nintendo or Sega console meant that you were probably rich. Now, games can be played on all sorts of platforms from phones to consoles, so there is an affordable option for everyone. In an industry that has grown so large, tens of thousands of games are released every year, so it is difficult for a game to really win the attention of audiences. By analyzing IGN’s list of most played games of 2020 (Bankhurst) and their list of best nintendo switch games (IGN Staff), the games that draw in the largest audiences either have a multiplayer feature to create a community within the game, an open world or a long story with many branches triggered by choices to give the player a feeling of freedom, or nostalgia from being a long reigning saga. By looking at games like Among Us and Fortnite, multiplayer and communication features will explain their popularity. By peering into Grand Theft Auto and Terraria, open worlds and player choice that makes a difference in the story will be shown drawing in a large audience. Lastly, by reading on games sagas like Pokemon and The Legend Zelda, a feeling of nostalgia will promise neverending customers and additional success in industries outside of gaming. Large communities are made possible through multiplayer features in games which is why games like Fortnite and Among Us have been so successful. Fortnite, the game stereotypically known for being packed with middle school boys, actually draws in a humongous audience. The New York Times wrote in an article covering the popularity of Fortnite, “Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, reported in June that 40 million people log on to play it each month” (Garcia). To put that into perspective, that is more people than the current population of California, the most populated state in the United States. Fortnite has a multiplayer aspect which allows players to fight against one another in teams online. Players can message each other in chat and also use Discord to talk with their teammates. Sandra Garcia also mentioned, “For gamers, particularly those under 18 who play in teams, Fortnite became something of a social club. Most play with a squad of friends from real life or buddies made online” (New York Times). This multiplayer aspect has worked in creating communities that encourage one another to keep playing. Most kids play the game as an after school activity and to spend time with friends. Similarly, Among Us, a pretty simple game with little story and simple art, has an audience that grew exponentially to the point where its servers could no longer support the number of players logging in. Among Us brought a new multiplayer feature to the table of trying to outwit your friends by lying through your teeth. It allows for a greater multiplayer experience because it forces players to talk to each other in order to get the most out of the game. Lorenz on New York Times writes, “Suddenly major YouTube stars, TikTok influencers and streamers were playing it. PewDiePie, James Charles and Dr. Lupo have all played the game for millions” (Lorenz). The fun element of talking to each other makes the game also very entertaining to watch, so the game brings in many viewers for streamers which expands the game’s community even further. As of late, games like Grand Theft Auto and Terraria that have an open world and allow for the player to change the game’s story trend in the industry. In all honesty, Pokemon, if the series was first created today, would probably not reach the top charts of popular video games. The reason for this is that in order for a new game series to stay popular it tends to need endless hours of play time. A game like the Untitled Goose Game is very well rated, but it doesn’t have a lot of peak players and does not bring in many viewers on streaming platforms. This is due to its short story. A player will play through the game and then quickly move on to the next game. Although Grand Theft Auto is coded to prevent the player from “finishing the game”. In The Australian, the author proposes, “I think the reason the GTA series is so popular is because the open-world design allows players a lot of freedom to explore and be creative on their own, without necessarily having to stick to the game's main story or side missions” (Polites). There is a story to Grand Theft Auto, but the player always has more to explore and different things to do in the world aside from just sticking to the story. The key word from Polite’s statement is “freedom”. If the player feels like they have freedom within a game, they have a greater sense of self accomplishment. Also, having the ability to make choices that matter help make a game popular. Game Voyagers published an article on Terraria saying, “If you’re a creative person. You’ll enjoy creating new and exciting things that’ll make your game world a better place” (Simmons). Whether the player chooses to spend their time exploring caves or building a strong fortress determines if they will have greater success in filling their inventory or having a good defense. The player can make many choices in Terraria that are impossible to predict and the game’s outcome will reflect their decisions. The player’s freedom to change the game is what makes Terraria so popular. Very old sagas like Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda still reign in having some of the largest gaming audiences due to giving their players the feeling of nostalgia. The Pokemon Company has been making games since Pocket Monsters Red and Green in 1996, but every single one of their games has made fortunes. There are players who have played since their childhood and continue to play today and pass their love of the game down to their own children. In BBC News, the team writes, “There is still a thriving Pokemon nostalgia community online. We share memes, reblog Tumblr posts and swap stories of our first battles - both wins and losses - and Pokemon memories” (BBC team). The reason why Pokemon Go is so unbelievably successful is because it allows people to bring their childhood Pokemon pals to the real world. The game’s characters are associated with so much love because it is known as the childhood of so many people. Nostalgia is so effective at ensuring a game series’ popularity that it allows sagas to thrive in industries outside of gaming. Tokyo, Japan brings in many tourists to visit their Pokemon attractions like real life Pokemon Centers, Pokemon cafes, Pokemon festivals, and Pokemon collectible stores (Japan Today). Another series that continues to spark nostalgia into millions of player’s hearts is The Legend of Zelda. In The Atlanta, Han shares her own childhood story, “One of the first video games I ever played—if not the first—was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But it stuck with me for how tender and real it felt, from the memorable musical score to the detail it paid to even the most minor characters, and I’ve followed the franchise religiously in the years since” (Han). The Legend of Zelda was one of the first games series to combine puzzle-solving, combat, and fantastic storytelling well. The game has definitely changed throughout the years to have more open world content and be more challenging to beat. Although people keep awaiting the launch of a new game in its saga because of the series’ nostalgic feeling and well-known title. Players are filled with the warm feeling of nostalgia when they open their new game to play songs from The Legend of Zelda’s famous score and see the faces of familiar characters. After analyzing some of the most popular games of 2020, similarities were seen among them. A game is guaranteed to greaten its chances of having a large audience by utilizing multiplayer features, having a large open world to explore with many possible choices, or being a sequel to a previously popular game. By knowing what games are popular right now and why, it will be easier to predict what upcoming games will be successful. Also it encourages game creators to include these features in their own games if they want to reach a larger audience. Although it is important to stay aware of trends in what is popular right now, following a trend should never be prioritized over a creator’s vision because it could risk the most important quality of a game: being unique.